I’m going to enjoy Ronaldo wreck his career.
Paris does have a nice ass, tho.
Popularity: unranked [?]
June 12, 2009
July 10, 2008
Sepp Blatter on Modern Day Slavery
What a complete idiot. How did this guy get his job? Only a myopic idiot like Sepp Blatter could have the unmitigated gall to compare a footballer making millions to a slave:
“If the player wants to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found,” said Blatter.
“Because if he stays in a club where he does not feel comfortable to play then it’s no good for the player and for the club.
“I’m always in favour to protect the player and if the player wants to leave, let him leave.”
Manchester United insists Ronaldo must stay to see out his contract and are expecting him to return to their Carrington training complex next week.
Since the landmark Bosman ruling, players are free to leave clubs when their deals are concluded.
But, says Blatter, that has inspired owners to tie footballers to long contracts so that the only way for them to leave is to pay up the remainder or get the buying club to do so.
He said: “I think in football there is too much modern slavery, transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere. And we are trying now to intervene in such cases.”
Asked if he felt sympathy for Ronaldo’s current position, Blatter said: “Absolutely, absolutely”.
He added: “Definitely as a footballer and the Fifa president, I’m very in sympathy with the player Ronaldo.”
Has he no grasp of history? Or no respect for personal responsibility? Ronaldo hardly lives the life of a slave. He’s gallivanting off to exclusive beaches with hot women and is living the life of a king. Not a slave.
As far as sympathy for Ronaldo or others in his situation, Bosman ruling or not, here’s a bit of advice: Don’t sign the contract! If you want to pick and choose where you will play – sign a short term contract. Sure – it won’t be as lucrative, but that’s the cost of flexibility. Sure you can take the chance and sign for 5 years and think you can weasel your way out of it – but that could backfire on you. You’ve hired an agent – some would believe a smart one – make sure he’s doing right by you.
Blatter has been here in Silly Town before – he tried pushing his 6+5 plan for limiting foreign players in club sides even though it runs afoul of EU labor law. So this begs the question – who let this slanted nutter in the front door to begin with.
Popularity: unranked [?]
June 19, 2008
The Roundup from 2008-06-19
- Guillem Balague Website http://tinyurl.com/5×9awk Exclusive Interview: Cristiano Ronaldo speaks of his ‘Dream step forward’ #
- “It is a dream … it is a great opportunity, and as Scolari says, that train passes by only once, and we have to take advantage of it” #
- http://tinyurl.com/4c47b6 “Cristiano Ronaldo has hinted very strongly that he is looking to leave the European champions for Real Madrid”Questo, secondo le regole casino online inizia il piatto ed incoraggia altri partecipanti a puntare. #
- http://tinyurl.com/3w9q9t “Sky Sports News understands that [Ronaldo] is set to leave the Premier League and UEFA Champions League holders.” #
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March 11, 2008
Mancini Is Done
He can win all the Scudettos he wants, but the club expects more. That’s why Mancini resigned:
Roberto Mancini has revealed he intends to quit Internazionale at the end of the season.
Speaking after Inter were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Liverpool, Mancini told reporters of his desire to move on in the summer.
The former Italy international has been in charge at Giuseppe Meazza since 2004 and has enjoyed success at the helm.
Inter are on course for a third consecutive Serie A title this season, but it will not be enough to tempt Mancini into staying.
Insisting his decision was not a knee-jerk reaction to losing to Liverpool, Mancini confirmed he does not intend to fulfil his contract.
Aside from Zanetti, that team looked like they were in a crisis. Rumors of infighting showed on 2 chances in front of goal where Julio Cruz and Zlatan Ibrahimovi? attempted difficult shots instead of squaring to an unmarked man. Zlatan, again, not showing up in the big games and Mancini took forever to bring on his subs. You can see why Roma feel they can catch Inter in the league tables, only 8 points behind now.
You won’t stay at a glamour club for long without winning in Europe. It’s what Madridistas are used to and what has saved Rafa Benitez at Liverpool and Carlo Ancelotti at AC Milan. But now with Inter, Real Madrid, and AC Milan out of the last 8, and with Rikjaard’s time looking short, it appears there will be a bidding war for Jose Mourinho’s services. And if Avram Grant doesn’t win something this year, Mourinho’s old job could be vacant as well.
England’s Big 4 are in Europe’s Elite 8 but out of the FA Cup’s Final 4. With the foreigners outnumbering the Englishmen, that sounds about right, don’t you think?
Popularity: unranked [?]
June 2, 2007
New Wembley Stadium Unveilled
The new Wembley Stadium opened with a classic match between England and Brazil. David Beckham supplied a trademark cross that John Terry put away in the first half, only to see Brazil’s Diego level in injury time.
Popularity: 1% [?]
October 2, 2006
The EPL Funkiest Haircut Award Goes To
Joleon Lescott of Everton FC. He must have lost a bet or something.
Drogba can get all the hat tricks he wants against lesser competition in Europe, Andy Johnson is still the man in England. 6 Goals in 7 weeks.
Jagielka gives Sheffield the 3 points in the 90th minute!! Richards equalizes for Man City in the 94th!!! DRAMA!!!
Van Persie had the Goal Of The Season so far. And Joey Barton continues his shenanigans.
Can Portsmouth or ManU take advantage of the Aston Villa draw at Chelsea?
No. Well Pompey didn’t. ManU are now back at the top with a GD lead on Chelsea. Pompey meanwhile have lost 2 straight – even though Spurs were gifted a goal with a Graham Poll-like penalty.
Barca and Valencia are on top in Spain and there was a noticable shot
of Beckham and Ronaldo on the bench to start the game. The both got in late, but did nothing to break the 1-1 tie.
Both Inter and AC Milan trudged ahead to draws and Francesco Totti’s Roma is now tops in Serie A. Anyone hear anything from Juve recently?
Finally, Brian Ching had a nice overhead scissor kick goal in MLS.
Euro 2008 qualifiers and other International play this weekend.
Popularity: unranked [?]
September 30, 2006
Matchday 2 Thoughts
Due to some unfortunate blunders with my cable provider I ended up having to “watch” yesterday’s Barca-Bremen game online (thanks, UEFA). Needless to say it was looking bleak down 1-0 and Eto’o carted off (he’s out 5 months!!) but my namesake and future mancrush Lionel Messi came on, mixed it up, attacked the back line and levelled in the 89th minute! YES!!!
Arsenal are back, baby!! Henry 2 headers in 4 days. He hasn’t headed a goal since 2004.
Again, I say Sheva who? Didier Drogba is continuing his assault – with 3 against Levki Sofia. Hats, please.
Wayne Rooney in the midfield? That’s what Louis Saha’s great start to this season has meant to England’s next big thing. Both Saha and Drogba are looking every bit as dangerous now as before they made the move to their respective high profile clubs.
Paul Scholes? Homophobic remarks? Ohh, Paulie …
Crouchaldinho aka The Pipe Cleaner probably scored the goal of the week with his inverted, half-pipe, 135 degree bicycle kick. I swear, his playing footy defies physics.
Valencia did a number on poor Roma who could only manage a penalty kick from the birthday boy Francesco Totti.
Inter is bottom of it’s group after 2 games. and worse – they ammassed 2 red cards yesterday, one to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Italy’s not doing that well in this tournament.
In 3 weeks, the world will grind to a halt as Chelsea and Barcelona renew their rivalry on Halloween (right?) and Estrella Bucharest try to hold off a hungry Real Madrid. Celtic and Benfica have a pivotal game at Parkhead.
As an American and a student of Beavis and Butthead, the word BUNG is just hilarious to me.
and OH YEAH…
READING ARE INTERESTED IN FREDDIE ADU!!!
Major League Soccer team DC United have cooled speculation linking teenage midfielder Freddy Adu with a move to Reading, insisting he is going nowhere. The regular MLS season ends in the United States in October and Reading were reportedly set to sign the 17-year-old on loan in January. However, a DC United spokesman told BBC Sport: “We expect Freddy to be in our uniform for the foreseeable future. “He is the focal point of the team and a very popular figure at the club.” Adu’s agent Richard Motzkin revealed in February that Manchester United and Chelsea had both mooted their interest in the teenager. In 2004, Adu became the youngest professional MLS player when he signed a deal with DC United – at the age of 14.The Ghana-born midfielder also became the youngest player to compete for the USA when he was handed his senior debut against Canada in March. However, he was left out of their World Cup squad this summer. Reading are thought to be keen for Adu to line up with fellow Americans Bobby Convey, a winger who also played for DC, and goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. Adu’s registration with DC United, who have won the championship four times, means he is playing for the most successful club in the 10-year history of the MLS. “DC United have always been a big draw and Adu is also a big draw,” said the spokesman. “We are pleased with the way he has developed.”
Freddy – GO NOW! MLS – Send Him!! He is our future! He needs proper training! Send Him! Look what the EPL did for McBride, Reyna, and Friedel!! Look what staying in MLS did for Donovan.
Popularity: 1% [?]
September 26, 2006
Matchday 2 in Limerick Form
There’s footy on TV tonight
Man U play with all of their might
David Beckham’s side,
Real Madrid, try
To look like they’ll put up a fight
Tomorrow it’s Barca and Chelsea
Ronaldinho will give ‘em hell, see
And my new cable package
Let’s me watch all the matches
Just need that large TV from LG
I’m impressed by Olympic Lyon
Juninho and Fred are da bomb
Can they climb the tower
That is Steaua
Or will the Romanians be too strong?
Liverpool sure needs a reuslt
Or Anfield will erupt in tumult
Rafa’s chameleon
Lineups are dealing un-
Rest that is all his fault
CSKA Moscow was tipped
To be the surprise side, but if
They don’t get on
The experts prove wrong
And they won’t sell very many kits
Louis Saha is a star
Rosicky can score from far
But Becks’ touch ain’t Midas
He has tonsillitus
His coach thinks his game is sub-par
Thierry Henry is back
But some fans taunt him cuz he’s black
FIFA is trying
To stop fans relying
On silly, divisive race cracks
Apparently, Frank Lampard has been found
He bulged the net twice on the ground
But John Terry’s in pain
His back spasms won’t wane
And Gallas? On the other side of town
That’s all for now. Enjoy the games
Popularity: 1% [?]
September 20, 2006
Matchday 1.5 – Celtic Fight Hard, Real Falls, Steaua Stuns – Sep 14, 2006
The best game of the night came at Old Trafford where Gordon Strachan took upstart Celtic to face his rival Sir Alex Fergusen. Celtic went up 1-0 but then were the victim of one of the worst penalty calls since Shevchenko went down in the area against Tunisia. Saha scored the penalty and scored again a little later, he was all over the field and much more involved than Wayne Rooney. But Nakamura equalized on a beautiful free kick above the box that no doubt stunned Van Der Saar. But minutes into the second half, Ole Gunnar Solsjaer scored on a rebound and it proved to be the difference. What a match – back and forth, controversey, and bitter rivals – at least according to the press. Hoops did good and should have gotten a point, but that spill by Gravesson for the last goal and the penalty just didn’t go their way. Man U also missed 2 easy chances in the area. Next time they’ll meet in Glasgow on Nov 21.
Real Madrid go down and they go down hard to Gerard Houllier’s Lyon. So much for Capello’s assertion that taking Diarra away from Lyon would be the difference in Los Galacticos’ revenge match from the drubbing Lyon gave them last year. Famed (?) Brazillian striker Fred scored the first goal on a counter attack, beating Cannavaro, of all people, on his run. Perhaps it was Lyon’s speed (and the fact that they seemed to care more) that bothered them. There were several other real good chances in the first half. Malouda and Govou were wreaking havoc. And my streak of watching bad Real Madrid games continues. They just didn’t make the trip tonight – at all. The curse of Reyes, perhaps?
How about the Bucharest Stars (Steaua) – going into the Ukraine and winning 4-1 at Kiev. They currently sit at the top of the tables in the group. Everyone is counting down the days when Real Madrid comes to town on October 17th.
Arsenal win without Henry (interesting point) as Gilberto Silva scored on a penalty (red card on the keeper for grabbing van Persie’s leg) and ripping Rosicky goal in the second half provided the margin 8 minutes after halftime. Inzaghi and Kaka got on the board in AC Milan’s 3-0 win against AEK Athens. All the other matches ended in draws.
Well, this Sunday it’s Liverpool at The Bridge and Arsenal at Old Trafford. Do the other games even matter?
Popularity: unranked [?]
Transfer Window – Sep 1, 2006
Gunners, Hammers Make Moves, DMB to City, Celtic DENIED by MLS!
It’s a new look Gunners squad at the Emirates as Arsenal finally made their moves – getting William Gallas from Chelsea for Ashley Cole and Julio Baptista from Real Madrid for Jose Antonio Reyes. Now maybe they can emerge from their 1 point hole and challenge for another shot at Europe.
But it seems the coup of the night was West Ham poaching Argentinians Carlos Tevez and Javier Masherano – who were thought to possibly be going to Arsenal or Man U.
And it was nice of Man City to reunite the two Americans Claudio Reyna and Damarcus Beasley by getting DMB from PSV. Lets hope that the EPL toughens up Beasley some.
But the shocker of the night was Celtic being denied by MLS the $1M transfer of New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph – who apparently impressed them during a recent visit. How would you like to be Joseph, a chance to play Champions League against Man U and $1M to boot to MLS and them saying no. Oooohh, I’d be steamed.
Will England have any worries with Andorra? Will Romania take care of Bulgaria? Who will win the Czechoslovakian derby? Will there be a retribution headbutt in the Italy – France rematch next week?
One thing is for sure, I need to get my channels sorted out so I can watch.
Popularity: unranked [?]
